A History of American Horror

Published November 20, 2024 at 2:57 PM MST

If you want to get to the roots of horror in America, you have to go way back. Back to slavery, back to Salem, back to the colonization of the New World.

That’s just what Jeremy Dauber’s new book, “American Scary,” does: It tells the stories of real-life horror in American history and follows those stories as they become absorbed by society, and later reemerge in fiction, film and television. From witches to zombies to slashers, Dauber says we’re mostly scared by either of two things: cosmic forces beyond our understanding, or the monsters who just may live next door. He’s joining us to explain what Americans have been afraid of, and what we may fear next.

GUEST –

Jeremy Dauber | Atran Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture at Columbia University. His book is called “American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stepehen King and Beyond.”

Airdate: Thur., Nov. 21, 2024 at 9 a.m. and Sat. Nov. 23, 2024 at 11 a.m.